Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Move #21...

Yes, it is true. 
 Since marrying Rick, my sweetheart, my best friend, my one and only...
we have moved 21 times. 
A bit much, don't you think?

Good thing I kinda like him.

We moved into our first flat in London knowing it was temporary,
as the owner was combining 2 flats into 1 luxury one for he and his bride.
So we came home from Christmas and the hunt began.
We chose to look in the same area of town because it's familiar.
After searching for furnished and unfurnished places,
this is what we have...

We live on the top floor, the wing on the right.
It's a little weird to have a porter open the door (if he's there, if not, use a key),
get on a tiny elevator to the 4th floor (5th by U.S. counting)
down a hall, and you're home! 
Well, home once you unlock the door
with a regular key
and a skeleton key.
Three keys and an elevator (or stairs) required to get home.
Plus it's on a rather busy road instead of a one-way street.

Quite different from walking right off the street in our last flat.

Things I love about the new place?
 Very bright. 
Lots of windows.
No one above us nor on any sides.
More spacious.
Brand new furniture from Ikea,
(Though putting it all together was quite time consuming and painful.)
More comfortable beds.
More comfortable couch.
3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms.
And look!  A tree is starting to blossom below us.
Spring is going to come!


View down the hall from the front door.

Dining area to the right.
(the computer will move into the 3rd bedroom once a phone jack is fixed)

Living area on the left.

And a separate kitchen!

How do you move in London when it's only a few block away and you have
no furniture to move?
Pack up suitcases, fill the car, drive to the new place, have the porter prop the front door open,
unload everything by the tiny elevator, fill it up with stuff and one person while the other
person runs up the stairs, unload the elevator, take it into your flat, possibly repeat this process, then unload all the suitcases, return them to the car, go back to the original flat, and start the process again.

Do this over, and over, and over again.

And hope Ikea delivers your furniture on the right day.
(Whew, they did!)
And then realize the bed and bed slats you bought take FOREVER to put together.
And then sleep one more night at the old flat because of it AND
because your rolled-up mattress needs to fluff itself for a few days.
And do more suitcase moving as described above.
And clean the old flat.
And then go to your new home.
Who cares if it takes days to assemble the rest of the furniture...
at least you have a couch and one bed assembled.

Soooo, come visit!  We have more room!